Alexander Jannaeus was the first Hasmonean ruler to formally adopt the title "King" on his coinage — a deliberate political break from his predecessors, who styled themselves as high priests. The anchor-and-star prutot were struck in enormous quantities throughout his nearly three-decade reign, which included both military expansion into the Transjordan and Galilee and a brutal civil war against his own Pharisaic subjects that reportedly cost tens of thousands of lives.
Many surviving examples were deliberately overstruck on earlier Hasmonean issues, a practice that makes clean attributions genuinely difficult. Hendin 1151 specifically designates the anchor/star type, the most prolific of his issues.
Alexander Jannaeus was the first Hasmonean ruler to formally adopt the title "King" on his coinage — a deliberate political break from his predecessors, who styled themselves as high priests. The anchor-and-star prutot were struck in enormous quantities throughout his nearly three-decade reign, which included both military expansion into the Transjordan and Galilee and a brutal civil war against his own Pharisaic subjects that reportedly cost tens of thousands of lives.
Many surviving examples were deliberately overstruck on earlier Hasmonean issues, a practice that makes clean attributions genuinely difficult. Hendin 1151 specifically designates the anchor/star type, the most prolific of his issues.